Breath of Fire III
Breath of Fire III is the third installment in the Breath of Fire series, and the first to feature three-dimensional environments and effects. New gameplay elements are introduced, including an expanded combat system and environment interaction, the ability to learn enemy skills, and acquiring Masters that customizes the abilities of the characters. Gameplay Battles occur randomly when a player travels through hostile areas. When a battle is initiated, the characters and enemies align themselves according to the environment, and no battle transition occurs. At the start of each round, the player inputs a command for each active party member, in order of descending Agility, and its target, which are then carried out in accordance with the Agility of all combatants. A player may choose to Attack, Defend, perform special Abilities, use items, Examine the enemy in order to learn special Abilities called Skills, or flee from battle entirely. While previous Breath of Fire titles allowed groups of four characters to participate in combat, the number of active party members is now restricted to only three. Dragon Genes Special items called Dragon Genes can be found throughout the game which give Ryu the ability to transform into powerful Dragon Forms, giving the player great versatility in battle as Ryu is the only party member you can't remove from your team. Each Dragon Gene has its own different properties and statistics such as stat increases and elemental affinity. Only when two or more Genes are combined can unique Dragons be formed, while still being able to affect further by removing or adding additional Genes. Formations A new system called Formations is introduced, which allows for characters to be arranged in certain patterns for tactical benefits. Three Formations are unlocked initially, while the other three are gained through Masters. Each Formation has its pros and cons, some of which are not directly revealed to the player. These include increasing all party members' Defence, the lead character's Power, regenerating health after each round, and others. Masters Masters are introduced for the first time, which allows any of the game's playable characters to apprentice under specific non-player characters. After a character gains a Level, the stat gain from the Master is added to the character's natural stat growth, which can greatly improve a character in some areas while completely stunt them in others. No Master has only positive stat gains (with the exception of a few) which urges the player to regularly switch the use of one Master to another for a more balanced character, or stick to one which increases the desired stat the most. Additionally, returning to a Master after having gained a certain amount of Levels under it (the number of Levels depends on the Master) allows the character to learn new Skills to use in battle. Skills Skills is the name of special abilities taught by Examining an enemy in battle, or by the use of Masters. If the enemy uses that particular Skill while the character is Examining it, there is a chance that the ability will be added to the character's spell list, allowing them to use it for themselves or pass it on to an ally through the use of Skill Ink. A Skill can only be known by one character a time. Exploration The drastic new change in exploring comes in the new overhead isometric viewpoint, which allows the player to rotate the game's camera in any direction around the central character, as well as tilt it up or down to see over or under impending objects. When traveling through the game's environment, each character can perform a unique field ability that allows the player to solve puzzles or destroy objects, as well as gain access to otherwise hidden areas. Three-dimensional graphics are used for scenery, buildings, and other objects, while two-dimensional sprites are still retained for characters. An additional feature, the Fairy Village, gives the player the ability to influence the growth of a small town of faeries, which in turn gives them access to special items or in-game features such as mini-games and a sound test. While journeying on the world map, players may set up camp, which can replenish a character's health by resting, as well as allowing them to speak directly to any member of their party. Other series mainstays such as fishing return with a new, expanded interface and point allocation system that keeps track of what fish a player has caught and their size. Setting Long ago, during the Age of Machines, the world's inhabitants lived in a state of technological bliss. The machines had one primary purpose; to prevent the Desert of Death from consuming the lands by keeping it at bay. However, war and quarrels ensued between the people of the land, and the area was completely swallowed by sand. The goddess, in anguish over not being able to save the people, split the world into two continents, dividing them by a barrier of water known as the Outer Sea. The Desert of Death was contained in the former continent, allowing life to flourish in the latter. The goddess maintained a steady construction of machines, sending them over to the hospitable continent through a giant transportation vehicle known as the Black Ship, aiding the humans in their effort to rebuild society. However, the threat to the world was not yet over. In fear that the world would one day be destroyed by the power kept by the Dragon Clan, the goddess created four Guardians. She gave them one objective; to find and annihilate each and every member of the Dragon Clan to eliminate that threat. However, the Dragon Clan never fought back or made any form of resistance. The once proud clan was virtually eradicated. Story In a mine called Dauna located in a far corner of the world, a mineral called chrysm is being mined from the ancient an fossilized remains of dragons. When two miners rigs dynamite to one especially large piece of chrysm and detonates it, a baby dragon whelp emerges. The dragon whelp quickly attacks and dispatches the two miners, and wreaks havoc through the mine. As the baby eventually emerges, one of the miners distracts it in order to knock it out with a crane. The whelp is caught, and put in a cage for transportation by train, presumably for research. However on the way the dragon manages to shake its cage off the train, down a hill and into a forest called Cedar Woods. In Cedar Woods a humanoid, catlike member of the Woren Clan called Rei is hunting a very large boar, but as he prepares to ambush the creature a loud noise is heard which causes it to flee. Rei goes to investigate, and finds a broken empty cage and a small boy being attacked by a trio of wolves. Angry at the wolves for scaring his boar away he quickly takes care of them. Assuming that the boy was abandoned he leaves the child. However his guilt gets the best of him and he decides to take care of the unconscious boy by bringing him to his home in the woods. Rei arrives at his house and Teepo, an orphan boy who is roughly the same age as Ryu, greets him. At first thinking that the young boy is food, Teepo reconsiders and allows him to stay with them. Still unconscious, Ryu is put to bed. During his sleep he is visited in his dreams by two people; Teepo as an adult and the goddess Myria. Ryu however does not know who either of these people are and later discounts their appearance as mere dreams. Finding the house deserted when he finally wakes up he goes out searching for people, he eventually enters McNeil Village and sees Rei and Teepo making an escape from a house and its angry owner. Rei and Teepo seeing Ryu awake for the first time go to take him to the armorers to steal something for Ryu to wear, something slightly better than the night gown he had on at the time. It is at this point that Ryu finds out that Rei and Teepo are both thieves and criminals. Rei suggests that the team should go down to Yraall Road to find someone to mug, and they find a bush from which to hide behind. A man walks by, later revealed to be Bunyan, and Rei wants to see what Ryu is made of and pushes him down the hill, crashing into the man. Bunyan realizes Ryu must have a connection with the two thieves and leaves a message that if he ever runs into them they’ll be sorry. Rei and Teepo, hearing this, comes to the conclusion that since Bunyan is outside, his house is empty and thus easy to break into. After walking through the woods to find his house, Rei picks the lock and the group enters. After Teepo told Ryu to keep quiet, he humorously had to catch a plate Rei knocked down, with Rei shushing him. Climbing down in the cellar, Ryu finds a Beef Jerky and the other two comes rushing down just before Bunyan returns home. Rei, offering to check it out, is heard yelling from upstairs. Teepo also goes upstairs and Ryu follows him outside, only to be knocked out by Bunyan and tied up. Bunyan tells the team that if they want to eat they have to do honest work, and sends Rei off to Mt. Glaus for an unknown task. Ryu and Teepo on the other hand have to chop firewood, which initiates a minigame, before he’ll let them go. After the task, the two quickly follow Rei up Mt. Glaus and find him inside a cabin at the top. Rei reveals that Bunyan sent him to kill the monster that had been attacking the village, and hints towards an unseen power unsafe to use if others are nearby. The team goes to bed, and is awakened the next morning by the monster’s cry. The monster turns out to be the Nue, and the team battles it, though it manages to escape. Following the monsters blood and jumping into a waterfall, they manage to find the monster again and kill it. However, they quickly find out that the Nue only tried to feed its cubs, and that it didn’t realize the cubs were already dead. With remorse, they leap into the waterfall again and ride the stream down to the base of Mt. Glaus, only to find Bunyan waiting for them. He congratulates them, as now the animals can return when spring comes. Rei asks him if Bunyan knew that the Nue only tried to feed its children, and Bunyan answers: “If you had known she had cubs.... would you have let her live...?” After the monster of Mt. Glaus had been taken care of, the animals could return to the woods when Spring came. The group of thieves that had dispatched the beast were no longer short of food, and the villagers of McNeil Village have reconsidered their opinion of the three rascals. Teepo suggests that they go down to the town to hear what the townsfolk has to say about them. After a misunderstanding when the three are surrounded by farmers with rakes and sickles, they are thanked and are now treated with respect. A suspicious-looking person clad in a green robe wanders around the town, and when the group speaks to him he introduces himself as Loki and asks them to help him with a favor. After accepting, he tells the group to meet him in the hut at the farm. Loki explains that the mayor McNeil is corrupt and has been taxing the villagers’ outrageous amounts. He proposes that the group steal the money and give it back to the farmers, which Teepo immediately agrees upon, much to the dismay of the reluctant Rei and Ryu. Loki suggests that they wait for nightfall, and the group waits patiently in the hut. When they arrive at McNeil Manor, the team splits up to find a way in. Along the wall, there’s a section that stands out from the rest. Upon Ryu’s examination, the team joins him. Rei leans towards the wall in thinking, when it topples over, forming a way in. The guard up front will not let the group through unless they bribe him. After they do, they find a wallet, which they give to another guard who lets them pass. After avoiding guards with lanterns who will throw the team out if he passes them, Ryu rings the bell of a tower with his sword to confuse a guard to leave his post. After entering the now accessible area they find a guard slacking off from duty. He notices the trespasser and tells them that if they manage to defeat the guard dog, he’ll let them pass further. After they’ve done so, he tells them the reason they had to kill the dog was so that it would look like it was the dog’s fault that the trespassers managed to enter, and not his. After talking to a few people to convince a guard to leave his post guarding a shed, they enter to find out that the shed is actually a chicken coop. When Teepo tries to steal some eggs and call this break-in a success, a giant rooster falls down from the ceiling. The team defeats the rooster, and the rest of the chicken in the coop goes crazy and flies out, effectively distracting the rest of the guards. They sneak up to the main entrance, only to find that it’s still heavily guarded. Rei acts as bait and lure the guards away from the door, allowing Ryu and Teepo to enter. As the duo tries to head through the first flight of stairs, they are suddenly interrupted by a ghost. The ghost introduces himself as Torast and prevents them from passing, forcing the duo to dispatch him. They continue on by the stairs and get to a balcony, and finds McNeil himself. Ryu notices something strange about him, and he reveals himself to be another ghost, Kassen. After defeating him as well, they walk through the balcony and enter a room with a staircase. Here, they are assaulted by Galtel. The staircase leads down to the manor kitchen, and through it they see a hallway, only to be stopped by yet another ghost, Doksen. The duo journeys through the hallway and takes the waiting elevator to the roof. On the roof, the two find a grappling hook and reunite with Rei, who uses it to form a pathway between their current roof and the one in which McNeil is residing. As they enter his bedroom from the chimney, he is surprised by their sudden appearance and is cornered. Just as Ryu and the team is about to reclaim the townsfolk’s taxes, the ghosts of all previous McNeil Ryu and Teepo just fought in the manor reappears, forming together a big abomination that attacks the party. With the monster defeated and the money left by every doorstep, McNeil silently cries out a promise of revenge. Once again returned to their home in Cedar Woods, Teepo suggests they go down to town to gauge how much more their respect has grown since their last heroic deed. When the team heads down to McNeil Village, they find out that the villagers were terrified of what McNeil might do to punish the farmers, and they all gave back the money. Confused, the team meets up with Loki again who seems a bit paranoid suddenly, and he instructs the group to join him in the hut again. Waiting for Loki, Bunyan suddenly appears. Pretending to talk to s cow to avoid any responsibility, he indirectly tells the group that McNeil had strong connections with a Crime organization and that Loki was unaware of this fact when he asked for their assistance. Rei suggest that they lay low until the coast is clear, and the group head on back home for hiding. The group returns to Cedar Woods, only to find their home set ablaze. The two culprits reveal themselves and introduces themselves as Balio and Sunder. The two horsemen were sent out by the Crime Organization to issue revenge and attack the party. Severely overpowered, the group of thieves are easily defeated and knocked out. Awakening a short while later, Ryu finds himself in the care of Bunyan who had nursed him back to health, and tells him he found no trace of his friends. Ryu still believes them to be alive, and is told by Bunyan that in order to reach Wyndia he must head east. On the way he needs to pass the large Mt. Myrneg, on which he runs into the two brothers at its summit. Sunder, believing Ryu to be a ghost, starts to panic and in fear stabs him in the back with his sword. The two brothers starts relishing in their victory, only to get startled when Ryu's heart starts beating. The sword slides out of the wound and Ryu transforms into a dragon, still unconscious. Ryu is capture, in the belief that he can be sold, and brought to Castle Wyndia where he is presented to the king and queen. Ryu however has now reverted back into his human form, and the king is shocked. Balio and Sunder comes to the conclusion that Ryu can only become a dragon once unconscious, and so they start hitting the cage. The king arrests the brothers and they and Ryu are thrown into separate cells. Ryu's captivity is not long however, as the young Princess of Wyndia, Nina, enters the dungeon after hearing Ryu's cries of despair. Feeling bad for his treatment she offers to let him out, before being interrupted by Balio and Sunder. Lying about leaving Ryu alone, Nina is tricked into opening their cell door, leading to her being knocked out. Nina is kidnapped in order for the two to gain ransom from the King, however Ryu conjures unknown strength and the door is broken, allowing him to catch up to the villains. When he catches up with them, he saves Nina as the two escape the dungeon. Ryu and Nina travel in the catacombs of the castle and eventually escape from it. After asking around Wyndia, they are infromed that someone was spotted at Eygnock Road. Heading there, Nina is then captured by Balio and Sunder, who threaten Ryu to surrender. Afterwards, they are taken to Arena Town Genmel, where they are watched by the bartender Fahl. However, getting too drunk, he doesn't notice the two escape from their bindings and flee the town. Traveling to Mt. Boumore, they are met with seemingly nice gondola workers, who allow them to rest in the cabin. However, when they wake up, they hear the voice of Sunder outside and realize they're being handed back to the two thugs. Quickly, they use the gondola and travel to the other side of Mt. Boumore and escape once again. But the two quickly reach a dead end, with Sunder right in front of them. As a last resort, they jump off a cliff and land at the base of the mountain. Escaping capture once again, the two leave the mountain behind them. Ryu and Nina eventually come across a large tower and meet Momo, an inventor and engineer who is researching the properties of chrysm when the two of them arrive. Together with her diminutive robotic assistant Honey, the three escape the tower by rocket when a group of bounty hunters arrive looking for them. 's Rocket to flee]]Momo leads them to a nearby chrysm research facility conducting experiments on plants when they are approached by the institute's chairman and colleague of Momo's father Palet, who tells them that there is a mutant creature causing trouble at the dump area where their biological waste is stored. After defeating the mutant plant creature, it gives up its offspring, whom Nina names Peco, to be cared for in its absence. As the four continue their journey east, where they are captured by Balio and Sunder in a double-cross and taken to a nearby colosseum. It is there that the team meets Garr, a seasoned warrior who aids them in defeating the horse brothers for good. Garr agrees to help the group in finding Ryu's friends on the condition that he also accompany him to a sacred temple far to the east. After crossing a large bridge and traveling straight through a volcano, the group arrives at the temple, where Garr and Ryu journey inward alone. It is there that Garr reveals the true fate of the Brood, having been slaughtered by him and his fellow guardians by the hundreds at the behest of Myria, an ancient goddess who promised an age of peace in return for their services. With Ryu as the last living dragon, Garr attempts to slay him, only to have Ryu assume his most powerful form, Kaiser, and escape. The story then cuts to several years later, where reports of a rampaging dragon have led Garr to the same mines where Ryu was originally found, and finds an adult Ryu within its depths. Convincing Ryu that he will not harm him, Garr instead asks forgiveness for his actions against his people centuries ago and asks that Ryu help him discover the truth behind Myria's genocide of the Brood. The two re-group with Nina, now a young adult, and Momo, who has been performing experiments at the plant institute with Peco, who himself has been frequently visiting the great tree Yggdrasil, overseer of the world's forests. They continue their journey once they receive information about Myria's whereabout from Deis, sister of Myria. The team finds Rei alive, now battling the leader of the crime organization responsible for the attack on his friends, and have him join their group, learning that he also has not seen Teepo since the incident. Crossing the ocean to the forgotten northern continent, the group finds a town littered with advanced technology from a forgotten age, and then proceed to the last known village of the Brood, Dragnier, where they learn of the battle between the heroes from the first Breath of Fire and the Goddess centuries ago, and how she has returned to seek her revenge against the Brood. Crossing a large desert, the team arrives at the ruined city of Caer Xhan, a former haven of technology, with a lift leading to Myria's fortress. Making their way up the large escalator to the floating Myria Station, the group fights their way into the facility's inner sanctum where they meet a lavender-haired young man who reveals himself to be Teepo. Having survived the attack by Balio and Sunder due to his latent dragon powers, he was later contacted by the Goddess, who convinced him to live in peaceful seclusion in her fortress to spare the world his destructive power. Unable to convince Ryu or his friends to do the same, he transforms into the gigantic Dragon Lord and attacks them, only to be defeated, his dying words revealing that he just wanted to be with his "family", Ryu and Rei. The determined groups makes their way to Myria herself within the station's control center, where she reveals that she exterminated the dragons centuries ago for the same reason she removed the world's high technology: to keep humanity from inadvertently destroying themselves. She presents Ryu the same choice she gave Teepo, to live the rest of his life in peace within her station or be destroyed. The spirit of the great tree Yggdrasil then channels himself through Peco and tells her she is taking her power too far, and like any parent, she must allow her children to make their own way. With that, Ryu and his friends attack and defeat her, fleeing the station as it crumbles around them. Garr opts to stay behind to atone for his past mistakes, and Deis, now revealed to be Myria's sister, appears to her just as the station falls apart, saying they will now leave the world in humanity's hands. Ryu and his friends make their way from the rubble and back into the desert on their journey home. Development Breath of Fire III was developed by Capcom Production Studio 3 in 1997, and was the first game in the series to feature three-dimensional environments along with traditional hand-drawn two-dimensional characters. Series writer and director Makoto Ikehara returned as head of the project, and was joined by a brand new art and sound team that would help expand the ongoing story of the Breath of Fire franchise. The project went through a lengthy development phase with numerous delays, mostly due to several writing and design changes mid-progress. Character artist Tatsuya Yoshikawa went through numerous preliminary designs for each character, only settling on a finalized set of drawings after many character sprites and portraits were already completed. As a result, some character's in-game appearances differ from official promotional material, such as child Ryu having a different hairstyle and wardrobe than his final design. The English version arrived in North America on April 30, 1998. Due to design limitations, character names were limited to no more than five letters, with Garland and Pecoros' names shortened to Garr and Peco accordingly. Because of an increased character limit for all in-game terms, many spell, item, and monster names were able to be rendered correctly for the first time in an English Breath of Fire game. Breath of Fire III was later released in multiple languages for the PAL region on October 8, 1998. Re-Release On August 25, 2005, Breath of Fire III was ported to the PlayStation Portable handheld system in Japan. This version, though largely similar to its original release, contained a new title logo graphic, as well as support for the PSP's native 16:9 widescreen display. An expanded version of the fishing minigame found in the original release was included as a bonus game accessible from the title screen, which could be freely given to a friend using the PlayStation Portable's GameShare feature. The Japanese version was bundled with a special full-color fishing guidebook featuring new artwork by Tatsuya Yoshikawa. A limited English version was released in certain European areas on February 10, 2006 which used the original translation. The United States version was not released due to a rejection by SCEA. Gallery File:BreathofFireIIILogo.png|The logo as seen on the Start Screen File:BofFIIIEurope.png|European disc cover File:BofFIIIJapan.png|Japanese disc cover File:BreathIIIJapanPSP.png|PSP Artwork File:200px-Groupbof3.jpg|The cast See Also *For a list of Breath of Fire III Abilities, see here *For a list of Breath of Fire III Accessories, see here *For a list of Breath of Fire III Armors, see here *For a list of Breath of Fire III Characters, see here *For a list of Breath of Fire III Enemies, see here *For a list of Breath of Fire III Helmets, see here *For a list of Breath of Fire III Items, see here *For a list of Breath of Fire III Locations, see here *For a list of Breath of Fire III Masters, see here *For a list of Breath of Fire III Production Staff, see here *For a list of Breath of Fire III Regions, see here *For a list of Breath of Fire III Shields, see here *For a list of Breath of Fire III Skills, see here *For a list of Breath of Fire III Weapons, see here *For the complete story of Breath of Fire III, see here *For box art, images and artwork from Breath of Fire III, see here *For a complete interactive list of Stats, Dragon Formations, Genes, Weapons and Masters, download this excel file